MEXICO CITY – Mexican federal prosecutors said Friday that the No. 2 official in the embattled state of Michoacan is being questioned by investigators.

The Attorney General's Office issued a statement saying only that Michoacan state Interior Secretary Jose Jesus Reyna was in Mexico City being questioned as part of a federal investigation.

The office didn't give any other details, but a federal official said Reyna was being investigated for alleged links to the Knights Templar drug cartel. The official agreed to reveal the information only if granted anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an investigation that is in progress.

Reyna's office did not respond requests from The Associated Press for comment.

The federal official said the questioning of Reyna is part of an investigation that began shortly before purported Knights Templar leader Enrique Plancarte was killed by marines last week.

Plancarte was considered one of four leaders of the cartel. The gang has been chased out of many Michoacan towns by vigilante groups that rose up a year ago in reaction to the cartel's extortion and other criminal activities in Michoacan.